02.04.2016
Blackbaud, Inc.(NASDAQ:BLKB), the leading provider of software and services for the global philanthropic community, today announced the general availability of Blackbaud Outcomes™ [1], its transformational cloud solution that solves key challenges experienced by funders and nonprofits as the sector evolves from traditional philanthropy to social, or impact investing.
“Forward-thinking grantmakers and nonprofits know that achieving their missions depends on data: they use it to inform their decisions, measure their outcomes and impact, and to tell the stories of the great work they do,” said Andrew Wolk, CEO of Root Cause, a Blackbaud Outcomes partner. “Effective technology turns data into a bridge. As the giving sector shifts toward proving impact, technology can connect funders and their grantees as partners around shared goals, accountability, and results. It’s a powerful tool for increasing collaboration, driving higher performance, and improving people’s lives.”
In this environment of increased focus on accountability and transparency, it has never been more important for the giving community to track and understand the specific and measurable impact of their programs so that they can make informed investment decisions. Blackbaud’s MicroEdge [2] business has spent the past five years connecting with clients and other leaders in the sector, conducting over 5,000 interviews along the way to create this industry-changing solution. And with its sector-sourced outcomes measurement taxonomy, Blackbaud Outcomes is the first solution to provide a common outcomes measurement language, empowering funders and nonprofits to truly understand the impact they are making and to tell their success stories using statistics, results and a shared language.
“Many of our clients have hundreds of grantees that are reporting metrics in hundreds of different ways, despite the fact that many of their programs support similar initiatives. With the outcomes measurement taxonomy in Blackbaud Outcomes, they will now be able to identify, track and report on the most important metrics with consistency,” said Kristin Nimsger, president of Blackbaud’s Foundation and Corporate Markets Group.
Blackbaud Outcomes is the company’s latest release in its modern cloud built exclusively for the philanthropic community. Leveraging Blackbaud SKY™ [3] capabilities and powered by Microsoft Azure, this new solution connecting nonprofits and funders offers unprecedented innovation within the most secure, scalable and highest-performing cloud environment available.
Blackbaud Outcomes is already receiving attention from industry experts for its analytical power and advancements in bridging the taxonomy divide. “By linking investments and actions to impact and achievement, Blackbaud Outcomes creates a data standard and common language across nonprofits and foundations. This also creates the opportunity for the philanthropic community and their grantee partners to learn from others, improve the outcomes they achieve, and better tell their results story,” said Gillian Williams, president of the Rensselaerville Institute.
“Blackbaud Outcomes provides a unified experience that allows funders and nonprofits to better collaborate and align their missions through data and shared insights,” said Mike Gianoni, president and CEO of Blackbaud. “The launch of this Blackbaud SKY-enabled solution is just another example of how Blackbaud is not only empowering philanthropic organizations with modern, innovative and high-performance technology solutions, but also connecting this community together like no other partner to power an ecosystem of good.”
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